Latest news with #ChoeSonHui
The Star
13-07-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Russia warns US, South Korea and Japan against forming security alliance targeting North Korea
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, its Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, right, and her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov shake hands as they exchange their cooperative project documents at an undisclosed location in North Korea on Saturday, July 12, 2025. - Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP SEOUL: Russia's foreign minister warned the US, South Korea and Japan against forming a security partnership targeting North Korea as he visited his country's ally for talks on further solidifying their booming military and other cooperation. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke Saturday (July 12) at North Korea's eastern Wonsan city, where he met the country's leader, Kim Jong Un, and conveyed greetings from President Vladimir Putin. Kim during the meeting reaffirmed his government's commitment to "unconditionally support and encourage all measures' taken by Russia in its conflict with Ukraine. He said Pyongyang and Moscow share identical views on "all strategic issues in conformity with the level of alliance,' according to North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. Lavrov called for the two countries to further strengthen their "strategic and tactical cooperation and intensify concerted action' in international affairs, KCNA reported. Relations between Russia and North Korea have been flourishing in recent years, with North Korea supplying troops and ammunition to support Russia's war against Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance. That has raised concerns among South Korea, the US and others that Russia might also transfer sensitive technologies to North Korea that can increase the danger of its nuclear and missile programmes. Speaking with reporters after a meeting with his North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui, Lavrov accused the US, South Korea and Japan of what he called military buildups around North Korea. "We warn against exploiting these ties to build alliances directed against anyone, including North Korea and, of course, Russia,' he said, according to Russia's state Tass news agency. The US, South Korea and Japan have expanded or restored their trilateral military exercises in response to North Korea's advancing nuclear programme. The three countries held a joint air drill Friday involving US nuclear-capable bombers near the Korean Peninsula as their top military officers met in Seoul and urged North Korea to cease all unlawful activities threatening regional security. North Korea views major US-led military drills as invasion rehearsals and has long argued it is forced to develop nuclear weapons to defend itself from US military threats. Russia understands North Korea's decision to seek nuclear weapons, Lavrov said. "The technologies used by North Korea are the result of the work of its own scientists. We respect North Korea's aspirations and understand the reasons why it is pursuing nuclear development,' Lavrov said, according to Tass. During their meeting, Choe reiterated North Korea "unconditionally' supports Russia's fight against Ukraine, as Lavrov repeated Russia's gratitude for the contribution North Korean troops made in efforts to repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia's Kursk border region. North Korea recently opened a mammoth beach resort in Wonsan city, the meeting venue, that it says can accommodate nearly 20,000 people. In his comments at the start of his meeting with Choe, Lavrov said, "I am sure that Russian tourists will be increasingly eager to come here. We will do everything we can to facilitate this, creating conditions for this, including air travel,' according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. The Wonsan-Kalma tourist zone is at the center of Kim's push to boost tourism to improve his country's troubled economy. However, prospects for the tourist complex aren't clear as North Korea appears unlikely to fully reopen its borders and embrace Western tourists anytime soon. - AP
Al Arabiya
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Russia's Lavrov meets North Korea's Kim, praises ties as ‘invincible brotherhood'
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the coastal city of Wonsan on Saturday, where he described the two nations' relations as 'an invincible fighting brotherhood,' Russia's foreign ministry said. The ministry quoted Lavrov as saying that the visit represented the continuation of 'strategic dialogue' between the two sides inaugurated by Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to North Korea last year. In a message passed on by Lavrov, Putin said that he hoped for more direct contacts in future, TASS news agency reported. Lavrov, the ministry said, also thanked North Korea for the troops it had sent to Russia. Relations between the two countries deepened during the conflict in Ukraine. Thousands of North Korean troops were deployed during the months-long campaign to oust Ukrainian forces from Russia's Kursk region, while Pyongyang has also supplied Russia with munitions. Lavrov also met with his North Korean counterpart, Choe Son Hui, TASS reported. Lavrov arrived in Wonsan on Friday from Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur following the ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting. Home to a newly opened seaside resort, Wonsan is also known for its missile and naval facilities. Lavrov's visit is the latest high-level meeting between the two countries as they upgrade their strategic cooperation to now include a mutual defense pact. 'We exchanged views on the situation surrounding the Ukrainian crisis ... Our Korean friends confirmed their firm support for all the objectives of the special military operation, as well as for the actions of the Russian leadership and armed forces,' TASS quoted Lavrov as saying. It also quoted his deputy Andrei Rudenko as saying more high-level delegations would visit North Korea later this year. The South Korean intelligence service has said North Korea may be preparing to deploy more troops in July or August, after sending more than 10,000 soldiers to fight alongside Russia in the war against Ukraine. North Korea has agreed to dispatch 6,000 military engineers and builders for reconstruction in Russia's Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces launched a mass cross-border incursion nearly a year ago. Russian news agencies said after North Korea, Lavrov was due to travel to China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. TASS said the new Wonsan coastal resort could boost Russian tourism to North Korea, citing the resumption of direct trains from Moscow to Pyongyang and a project to build a bridge across the Tumen River forming part of the boundary between North Korea, China and Russia.
The Guardian
13-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: Kim Jong-un voices ‘unconditional' support for Moscow as Russian foreign minister visits
North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un has reaffirmed his full support for Moscow in the war in Ukraine during talks with Russia's top diplomat, state media reported on Sunday. The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, is on a three-day visit to North Korea, the latest in a series of trips by top Moscow officials as the two countries deepen military and political ties. Kim and Lavrov met on Saturday in 'an atmosphere full of warm comradely trust', North Korea's official KCNA news agency reported. Kim told Lavrov that North Korea was 'ready to unconditionally support and encourage all the measures taken by the Russian leadership as regards the tackling of the root cause of the Ukrainian crisis'. Lavrov spoke to reporters at North Korea's eastern city of Wonsan, where he met Kim and North Korea's foreign minister Choe Son Hui, issuing a joint statement pledging support to safeguard the territorial integrity of each other's countries, KCNA said. A massive resort was opened in Wonson earlier this month. Ahead of Lavrov's visit, Russia announced that it would begin twice-a-week flights between Moscow and Pyongyang. Lavrov lauded Wonsan as 'a good tourist attraction', adding: 'We hope it will be popular not only with local citizens, but also with Russians.' Lavrov also warned the US, South Korea and Japan against forming a security partnership targeting North Korea, accusing the countries of what he called military buildups around North Korea. 'We warn against exploiting these ties to build alliances directed against anyone, including North Korea and, of course, Russia,' he said, according to Russia's state Tass news agency. The deepening relationship between Russia and North Korea has raised concerns among South Korea and the US that Russia might also transfer to North Korea sensitive technologies that can increase the danger of its nuclear and missile programmes. Lavrov said Russia understood North Korea's decision to seek nuclear weapons. 'The technologies used by North Korea are the result of the work of its own scientists. We respect North Korea's aspirations and understand the reasons why it is pursuing nuclear development,' Lavrov said, according to Tass. Russia fired hundreds of drones and long-range missiles across Ukraine overnight, killing at least six people in its latest wave of strikes, Ukraine said on Saturday. 'The Russians continue to use their specific tactics of terror against our country, striking concentrated blows at one city or another, at one region or another,' the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said in his evening address. Moscow has stepped up aerial strikes over recent months as US-led ceasefire talks have stalled. 'Twenty-six cruise missiles and 597 attack drones were launched, of which more than half were 'Shaheds',' Zelenskyy said, referring to Iranian-made drones. The Ukrainian air force said it had downed 319 Shahed drones and 25 missiles, adding that one missile and about 20 drones had hit 'five locations'. Zelenskyy said the strikes had killed at least two people and wounded 20 in the south-western Chernivtsi region, far from the frontlines of the east and south. Twelve people were wounded in Lviv, also in the west, while in the east two people died in Dnipropetrovsk and three were wounded in Kharkiv, officials said. Zelenskyy said that some of the drones sent by Russia had been 'simulators' intended to 'overload the air-defence system and make it more difficult to shoot down the 'suicide drones'. This is their deliberate and despicable terror.' The Russian defence ministry said it had targeted companies in Ukraine's military-industrial complex in Lviv, Kharkiv and Lutsk and a military aerodrome. In a video message, Zelenskyy said 'we are close to reaching a multi-level agreement on new Patriot systems and missiles for them'. Ukraine was stepping up production of its own interceptor systems, he added. The US special envoy Keith Kellogg is due to begin his latest visit to Ukraine on Monday as a Washington-led peace effort flounders. Donald Trump also said he would make a 'major statement … on Russia' on Monday. On Friday, the Kremlin restated its opposition to a European peacekeeping force in Ukraine, after French President Emmanuel Macron said Kyiv's allies had a plan 'ready to go … in the hours after a ceasefire'. Zelenskyy urged his western allies to send 'more than just signals' to stop the war launched by Russia in February 2022. 'The pace of Russian airstrikes requires swift decisions and it can be curbed right now through sanctions,' he said on social media. Zelenskyy specifically demanded penalties for those who 'help Russia produce drones and profit from oil'.
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Top Russian diplomat meets North Korea's Kim Jong Un as Pyongyang is pulled deeper into Ukraine war
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Saturday in a sign of deepening relations between Moscow and Pyongyang as the latter gets pulled deeper into Russia's war in Ukraine. Russia's foreign ministry posted a photo of the two leaders on Telegram Saturday in the North Korean city of Wonsan on the country's eastern coast. Lavrov arrived in North Korea on Friday for the start of a three-day visit. Lavrov also met with his North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui in Wonson Saturday, Russia's foreign ministry said on Telegram. 'We exchanged views on the situation surrounding the Ukrainian crisis,' Lavrov was quoted as saying by Russian state media agency TASS at a press conference following that meeting. 'Our Korean friends confirmed their firm support for all the objectives of the special military operation, as well as for the actions of the Russian leadership and armed forces.' On Wednesday, Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for Russia's foreign ministry, said Lavrov would visit North Korea for talks that were part of 'the second round of strategic dialogue' between the countries' top diplomats, according to TASS. North Korea's state news agency, KCNA, also reported Wednesday that Lavrov would be visiting 'at the invitation of' Pyongyang's foreign ministry. Lavrov's trip comes at a crucial time for Russian-North Korean relations, with Pyongyang set to deploy an additional 25,000 to 30,000 soldiers to assist Moscow's scaled-up assault on Ukraine, according to Ukrainian intelligence – adding to the estimated 11,000 soldiers Pyongyang sent last year. It also comes as the US has grown increasingly frustrated with Russia. US President Donald Trump has accused his counterpart Vladimir Putin of throwing 'bullsh*t' at peace talks, and pledged more support for Ukraine. The trip could further strengthen an alliance that has the potential to reshape not only the war in Ukraine but the security dynamic in Asia. Choe Son Hui visited Moscow for the first round of strategic talks in November 2024, according to TASS. At the time, Lavrov praised what he called 'very close contacts' with the North Korean military and intelligence services. Despite sustaining heavy battlefield losses, North Korea has become increasingly integrated into Russia's war. An estimated 4,000 North Korean soldiers have been killed or wounded in Russia, according to Western officials. On the ground in the Russian border region of Kursk, where North Korean soldiers helped repel Ukraine's incursion last year, the reclusive state's soldiers are reportedly living in dugouts, fighting – and dying – alongside Russian troops. Satellite images obtained by CNN showed cargo planes and troop transport ships moving between North Korea and Russia, hinting at major military logistics underway. Facing shortages on the front line, even as its own factories work round-the-clock, Russia has become reliant on North Korea for additional weaponry. Training manuals for North Korean artillery have been translated into Russian, in a sign of both the ubiquity of the weapons and the increasing interoperability between Moscow's and Pyongyang's armed forces. A report from 11 UN member states last month said that Pyongyang sent at least 100 ballistic missiles and 9 million artillery shells to Russia in 2024. Russia has intensified its aerial assault on Ukraine in recent weeks. Ukrainian officials said Saturday that Russia had overnight launched its second largest aerial assault on the country since the beginning of Moscow's invasion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia had launched 26 cruise missiles and 597 drones in the attack, killing at least two people in the western city of Chernivtsi. Most of the drones and over 20 missiles were 'neutralized,' he said. Russian attacks in Ukraine continued into the daytime on Saturday, with a further eight people killed in various parts of the country, according to regional officials. On Wednesday, Moscow launched a record 728 drones and 13 missiles. The next day, Russian drones attacked the capital Kyiv from all directions in an apparent new tactic that tested Ukraine's strained defenses. CNN's Kostya Gak, Billy Stockwell and Anna Cooban contributed reporting.
Al Jazeera
12-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
North Korea's Kim voices ‘unconditional' support for Russia in Ukraine
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has told Russia's top diplomat that Pyongyang is ready to 'unconditionally support' all actions taken by Moscow in its war on Ukraine, state media reports, as the two countries held high-level strategic talks. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov is on a three-day visit to North Korea, which has provided troops and arms for Russia's war on Ukraine and pledged more military support as Moscow tries to make advances in the conflict. Kim met Lavrov in the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, where Lavrov and his North Korean counterpart, Choe Son Hui, held their second strategic dialogue, pledging further cooperation under a partnership treaty signed last year that includes a mutual defence pact. Kim told Lavrov the steps taken by the allies in response to radically evolving global geopolitics would contribute greatly to securing peace and security around the world, North Korea's state news agency KCNA reported. 'Kim Jong Un reaffirmed the DPRK is ready to unconditionally support and encourage all the measures taken by the Russian leadership as regards the tackling of the root cause of the Ukrainian crisis,' KCNA said, using the acronym for the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted a video on Telegram of the two men shaking hands and greeting each other with a hug. The North Korean leader also expressed a 'firm belief that the Russian army and people would surely win victory in accomplishing the sacred cause of defending the dignity and basic interests of the country'. The two men otherwise discussed 'important matters for faithfully implementing the agreements made at the historic DPRK-Russia summit talks in June 2024', KCNA said. Relations between Russia and North Korea have deepened dramatically during the last two years of the war in Ukraine, which started with Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022, with Pyongyang deploying more than 10,000 troops and arms to back Moscow. The two heavily sanctioned nations signed a military deal last year, including a mutual defence clause, during a rare visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to North Korea. Lavrov told Kim that Putin 'hopes for continued direct contacts in the very near future', according to the Russian state news agency TASS. Ahead of the visit, Russia announced that it would begin twice-a-week flights between Moscow and Pyongyang. Lavrov lauded Wonsan as 'a good tourist attraction', adding: 'We hope it will be popular not only with local citizens, but also with Russians.'
